


At last, I'm not alone

by Pears_Not_Apples (The_5th_Witch)



Series: At World's End [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, M/M, People are dead, Zombie Apocalypse, decomposing bodies, i don't know if i've used the right warnings/ratings, i suppose some parts aren't too nice, it isn't THAT mature, kind of lots of blood, not doing it though, obviously, stuff like that, thinking of suicide, world is dead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-03-11 23:39:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13534998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_5th_Witch/pseuds/Pears_Not_Apples
Summary: It's been a couple of days since the world went to hell and Izo is struggling to keep his spirits up during what he believes to be his last days alive.Lucky for him that loneliness doesn't last forever.





	At last, I'm not alone

**Author's Note:**

> For: The part of me that just couldn't finish anything else before writing this.
> 
> My first work on Ao3. After a month of reading on and on, I've come to realise that I want to write something of my own. So here goes.
> 
> (First chapter is mainly about Izo)

He had been sitting there for days now. The growling coming from outside the door had never stopped. Even when it had sounded like some unfortunate soul had sought their way into the theatre and some of the noise had gone away, it had never _stopped_. He'd like to think that they were gone now and that the sound was imaginary, that it was only in his head. Still, some part of him always made sure to realise that dreams and reality were not the same.   
  
At one point, Izo had told himself to man up and get out of there since the fruit baskets and gift chocolates wouldn't last him more than a couple of days no matter how much he rationed it, but it only took one extra bang on the door to remind him of the fact that he couldn't take them on alone. It was painfully obvious that he wouldn't be able to survive for much longer. Sure, it was nice to know that _they_ wouldn't have to be the cause of death, yet dying by lack of the right vitamins, proteins and minerals didn't seem too nice either.   
  
How had the world come to this? Once upon a time, he'd been an actor of the country's finest theatre and now he was slowly descending into the terrors of the nightmare that his life had become. In the beginning, he recalled seeing some reports of a new virus on the news but nothing more. Then, it escalated quickly with some minor incidents here and there turning into the death of entire cities. It was terrifying and when the government told them to stay inside until further notice he had no choice but to stay where he was. Of course, no one at the theatre had expected Egana, a co-actor, to die on them and turn into one of those  _things_ , so they hadn't been prepared and soon Izo was the only human left.  
  
Zombies. The word didn't fit. It didn't matter that it was the only explanation, he just couldn't bring himself to call them that. They had been people before they had turned and no amount of persuasion would make him hurt them. The look in their eyes had been horrifying. It was as if they'd taken a human body but forgotten to put a soul in it and instead of ending up with a real human, they'd gotten a soulless monster with a single instinct to kill everyone and everything.   
  
Hours had gone by him as he was sitting against that cold wall and suddenly he found himself crying again. The memories replaying in his head was too much. Only twenty-two years old and already facing death. His whole life had been in front of him, yet the universe seemed intent on screwing with him till the end. One punch too much at home, friends abandoning him when dealing with prejudice wasn't worth it anymore, no one willing to hire him once he showed his real self and when it all finally disappeared, when his dream had come true and he could start his career as an actor, he was dragged into a world where he couldn't continue living for much longer.  
  
He told himself that it wouldn't hurt to die, that he wouldn't even notice when his soul wandered out of his body, but he knew better. No matter how he died now, it wouldn't be lacking pain and suffering. Since he had been a non-believer before, it felt wrong at first when he'd started to pray, especially since he didn't even know who to pray to.   
  
Izo had been half willing to give up, to smash the mirror and use the sharp edge to rid himself of consciousness, when the door for the third time that day had been close to breaking. He imagined grabbing a piece and slitting his own throat, he had no idea of how it would work but stopped himself before the thoughts went too far. No matter how scared he was, how tired he was, he couldn't give up just yet. The noises coming from outside had become louder these past days and that could only mean that there were more of them now. He couldn't get any sleep like this. The feeling of not being safe kept him from closing his eyelids for more than a couple of seconds.   
  
It was hopeless.   
  
Everything was gone.  
  
After a while, the door finally gave up and the corpses that had breached it looked like they froze in surprise for a moment. Izo had to remind himself that they weren't human anymore and reluctantly had his eyes scan the small crowd. There was what used to be Hiramera, her body looking like it had taken more than just a few hits as her left arm was nowhere to be found, still in the costume from the rehearsal. Inazuma was next to her, his face only slightly resembled what it had been before so he could only be recognized by that odd hair, and next to him crawled Hocha, both her legs were gone and Izo wanted to throw up when he saw the right of face and the hole where her eye used to be. Kappa, he'd been too young to die already. Kikyo, her body seemed unharmed yet her humanity was dead. Laki, Mero, Okame. They were all there. They were all _dead_.  
  
The only thing between them now was a sofa, some chairs and a desk but Izo doubted that it'd be a challenge for them since more and more started stumbling in the moment they heard the door break. He couldn't look at them anymore. Their rotting bodies with skin flaking off like the top layer of an onion, insects crawling in and out of the flesh and it brought an odour along that made Izo empty his stomach the second it reached his nose.   
  
"You always said I was a crybaby, Whitey," he muttered quietly as they were starting to get past the wall of furniture. Tears flooded his cheeks. "I suppose you were right." They closed in on him.

"You always were."  
  
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, patiently waiting for the pain of being eaten to death.   
  
It never came.  
  
One shot, two shots, three shots. Izo opened his eyes to see the bodies dropping like flies. Bullets entering from the back of their heads and then exiting with blood and pieces of brain tissue following. Chunks of flesh everywhere. An eye happened to land right next to him. It was probably Hocha's since she was the only one with irises in that dark shade of brown. Someone's head exploded. Another one staggered on for a while until it met its end by an axe through the brain. The last body almost landed on him with organs spilling everywhere and covered him in blood. He could feel the greenish red liquid sting as if it was acid when it touched his bare skin.   
  
He couldn't see his saviour, his vision was too blurry, too bloody, for that.  
  
It was just barely that he could see a hand reaching out to him. He took it.  
  
The warmth was something new, something _alive_ , and as his head was starting to spin he wanted more of it. He wanted comfort. He wanted to escape it all. He wanted to return to a time where he could wake up with a smile on his face, though that had been a rarity even before the outbreak. He wanted a home.  
  
His body shut down and expected to hit the ground beneath him, or perhaps one of the bodies, but it was a pleasant surprise when he was met by the warm embrace of a man with the hands of a cook.


End file.
